/*
 * Copyright 2006-2008 the original author or authors.
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package net.martinimix.webflow.accessor;

import org.springframework.webflow.execution.RequestContext;

/**
 * Provides methods to access objects stored outside of a
 * web flow's request context.
 * 
 * @author Scott Rossillo
 *
 */
public interface FlowObjectAccessor {

	/**
	 * Returns the object identified by the given object name.
	 * 
	 * @param objectName the name of the object to be returned 
	 * 
	 * @param context the current flow <code>RequestContext</code>
	 * 
	 * @return the object identified by the given <code>objectName</code>
	 * if it exists; <code>null</code> otherwise
	 */
	public Object getObject(String objectName, RequestContext context);
	
	/**
	 * Stored the given object outside the current flow using the given
	 * object name as its identifier
	 * 
	 * @param objectName the identifier for the given <code>object</code>
	 * 
	 * @param object the <code>Object</code> to be stored
	 * 
	 * @param context the current flow <code>RequestContext</code> 
	 */
	public void putObject(String objectName, Object object, RequestContext context);
}
